Football

New kids on the block Kilcar look to rattle defending champions Slaughtneil in Ulster semi-final clash

Chrissy McKaigue will, as always be a key player in Slaughtneil's bid to reach the Ulster club final
Chrissy McKaigue will, as always be a key player in Slaughtneil's bid to reach the Ulster club final Chrissy McKaigue will, as always be a key player in Slaughtneil's bid to reach the Ulster club final

AIB Ulster Club SFC semi-final: Slaughtneil (Derry) v Kilcar (Donegal) (Saturday, Healy Park, 6.30pm, live on TG4)

NEW kids on the block Kilcar take on old hands and defending champions Slaughtneil this evening with many onlookers viewing this as the de facto Ulster final.

The winners of tomorrow’s Derrygonnelly Harps versus Cavan Gaels semi-final will beg to differ on that point, but there is no doubt that the team that comes through this Healy Park battle will go into the provincial decider as favourites.

Derry’s Slaughtneil take the field as a tried and tested outfit. They have reigned supreme in the Oak Leaf county since they dethroned Ballinderry (three in-a-row champions between 2011 and 2013) in the 2014 final and went on to win their first Ulster title later that year.

Since then, the Emmet’s have completed a four in-a-row in the own county, won Ulster again last year and progressed to their second All-Ireland final in two years, only to be narrowly beaten by Kerry’s Dr Croke’s. This is a side built on defensive principals and packed with quality, experience and, perhaps most importantly, ambition. Their glittering record over the past four seasons has not blunted their cutting edge and so Kilcar will need to play the game of their lives to beat them.

Of course, the Donegal outfit will know the challenge that awaits them and they served notice that they are neither in bonus territory nor here to make up the numbers when they hammered Monaghan’s Scotstown – the only team to beat Slaughtneil in Ulster over the last three years – in Clones a fortnight ago.

Barry Doherty’s side came from behind to win at a canter in Scotstown’s backyard and that victory has given the players and management enormous confidence going into this evening’s encounter.

“Slaughtneil are the kingpins in Ulster at the minute,” said Kilcar manager Barry Doherty

“They’re a credit to themselves and they are where we would like to be and it’s where we think we can reach. Maybe this year is too early, we’ll know this time next week but we believe we’re as good as anybody in Ulster.

“We’ll be trying to achieve what Slaughtneil have been achieving and we don’t think we’re too far away.”

Derry’s lack of success in recent years has meant that Slaughtneil’s players have forged their reputations on the club scene. The opposite is true of Kilcar who include some of the household names that backboned Donegal’s rise to prominence that yielded an All-Ireland title in 2012 and a final appearance two years later.

Ryan McHugh, Mark McHugh and Paddy McBrearty are among the marquee names, while Doherty also has veteran Michael Hegarty at his disposal as well as Eoin McHugh and Stephen McBrearty, younger brother of Paddy.

Former Donegal star Hegarty, now 38, pulls the strings from a defensive role inside his own half. Possession will be king this evening and manager Doherty will send his team out to keep the ball because, if they lose it, they will struggle to get it back.

“Defensively, Slaughtneil re very good,” said Doherty.

“They set up well, they don’t give the ball away and their ball retention is as good as any county team I’ve ever seen. They don’t concede many goals and any team that doesn’t concede many goals is going to be there, or thereabouts.

“Their ability to grind out results is probably the big one. They tend not to beat teams by too much but they can grind out the win, they are masters at that.”

Derrygonnelly’s win over Armagh Harps at the quarter-final stage illustrated how valuable experience at provincial level can be. However, Slaughtneil’s march to the Ulster title in 2014 demonstrated that, while it’s desirable, experience isn’t necessarily essential.

“Anything is possible,” said Doherty.

“But the way we look at it in Kilcar, and it’s the way we operated throughout our own county championship, is we take every game as it comes. We don’t look too far ahead, we don’t think about the Ulster title, our aim is to perform well, first and foremost.

“If we perform well we know we’ll be a match for most teams. We treat the team we’re playing with respect and see if we can find a weakness in their approach.”

Is there a weakness in Slaughtneil? As Doherty said, the Derry men don’t rack up intimidating totals – 13.8 points per game (inflated by 4-13 against Derrygonnelly back in 2015) is their average over 10 Ulster outings – but only Scotstown have been able to score more than them over three and-a-bit seasons.

Slaughtneil’s businesslike approach tends to be short on fireworks but rules out disasters and their first order of business this evening will be to dispatch Karl McKaigue to mark Paddy McBrearty.

McBrearty was the key man in Kilcar’s quarter-final win with eight points while Ryan McHugh scored eight and Eoin McHugh bagged a goal. Both McHugh’s, and Ryan’s brother Mark, will play crucial roles in their movement and passing because this Kilcar side will not be able to match Slaughtneil physically and will need to concentrate on moving the ball quickly and breaking with pace out of defence.

Omagh crammed all 15 men into their own half when they met the Derry kingpins in the quarter-final. Slaughtneil managed just four points from and neither team scored in the last 13 minutes. They drew comparisons with Crossmaglen afterwards and, while they lack the Armagh club’s flair, they certainly have the same winning mentality.

In Chrissy McKaigue they have a player who can turn the game their way while Patsy Bradley is an experienced and formidable force at midfield and Christopher ‘Sammy’ Bradley and Meehaul McGrath are hard-working and capable up front. But Slaughtneil’s strength lies in their collective and their game management and it seems unlikely that Kilcar will come out on top if the game boils down to a who-blinks-first war of attrition.

The Donegal men have the personnel – and the ability – to come out on the front foot and take this game to the defending Ulster champions and if they do that they will give themselves the best chance to win.

Slaughtneil’s track record means they start as favourites with the bookies this evening. Expect tension and drama in Omagh and don’t rule out a shock.